Remember the island-wide blackout on Feb 9, 2025?

⭕️ Beyond the economic losses from 6+ hours without power, it cost CEB an extra ~4 Billion LKR (4,000 Million) to supply power in subsequent days using diesel plants etc.

⭕ Sri Lanka's annual electricity demand is around 16 billion kWh (8 billion for 6 months). This 4 billion LKR extra cost adds 4 billion LKR / 8 billion kWh = 50 cents per unit of electricity.

⭕ In simpler terms, if you consume 100 units per month, you will be subject to an increase of Rs. 50 in your electricity bill in the June/July electricity tariff revision due to this blackout alone.

⭕️ To contextualize 4 Billion LKR in Sri Lanka's budget terms:

Allocation for: Export Agriculture Promotion - 250 Million LKR
▫️ Primary Education Modernization - 500 M
▫️ Tourism Promotion & Branding - 500 M
▫️ Commercialization of Research & Innovation - 1,000 M
▫️ Digital Economy Advancement - 3,000 M
▫️ Public Transport Modernization - 3,000 M

⭕️The leaders who run the country, along with most citizens, fail to grasp the immense scale of entities like SriLankan Airlines, the CEB, CPC, Ports Authority, Customs, and the IRD etc compared to other institutions. The government would better serve the public by prioritizing these key institutions and keeping them under continuous oversight. Even a modest 1% improvement in their efficiency would have a 100x the impact of minor cost-saving measures elsewhere.

#SriLanka #CEB #StructuralReform